Railway hopper car



' W. E. WINE RAILWAY HOPPER CAR Nov. 10, 1936.

2 Sheecss--Sheetl l Filed May 20, 11.935

Nov. 10, 1936. w, E, W|NE 2,060,156

RAILWAY HOPPER CAR Filed May 20, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. l0,1936 UNITED STATES marianiI OFFICE Claims.

My invention relates to railway cars, more particularly to railway carsof the hopper type. The center sills of such cars are customarilyprovided with hoods which prevent lading from lodging on top of thecenter sills and the principal objectV of the invention is to provideimproved means for reinforcing the car construction in the regions wherethe center sill hood adjoins the Ainclined floors of the car and forrigidly connecting adjacent portions of the hood and floor.y I

Specific features of the invention residing in advantageous forms,combinations and relations of parts will hereinafter appear and bepointed out more particularly in the claims.

In the drawvings,` illustrating the preferred embodiment of thelinvention,

Figure l is a plan View of a portion of a railway hopper car.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken online 2 2 of Figure l.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken online 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the car reinforcing member.

Figure 5 is an end view thereof.

Figure 6 is a side elevational view of the same.

Figure 7 is ra sectional View taken on line 1-1 of Figure 4.

In the drawings, I designates a center sill of `usual constructioninvolving spaced beams 2 having upper flanges 3 projecting toward eachother and rigidly connected by the cover plate 4. Embracing the upperportion of the center sill is a hood 5 having downwardly divergingportions 6 which terminate in substantially vertical flanges l rigidlysecured to the sides of the sill.

In hopper cars, as is well known, the floors incline downwardly from theends of the car and continue down past the center sill on opposite sidesthereof. The cars are also formed with additional downwardly inclinedsheets commonly referred to as cross ridge sheets which extendtransversely of the car intermediate the hoppers. These intermediatefloor sheets, as well as the main or end floor sheets of the car,usually extend from above the top of the center sill hood to below thesame and in the past, as there is always some relative movement betweenthe center sill and oor sheets due to weaving and wracking of the carnot only in its passage along the rails, but also when used in dumpingmachines, difficulty has been experienced in effecting and maintaining arigid connection be- (Cl. S-249) tween the floor sheets and the centersill hood as both are relatively flexible.

The portion of the car chosen to illustrate the invention is adjacentone end of the car where the center sill passes beyond the floor sheets,but it will be readily appreciated that the invention is equally wellapplicable to portions of the car where the cross ridge sheets adjointhe center sill.

The portion of the oor of the car illustrated in Figure 1 is formed by asheet 8 which preferably extends continuously from one side of the carto the other and from a point adjacent the body bolster (not shown) ofthe car to a point slightly below the top of the center sill. Secured tothe lower edge of floor sheet 8 on opposite sides of the center sill aresheets 9 forming the bottom or slope sheet of the hoppers which, as iswell known, are arranged on opposite sides of the sill. The car hoppersare also formed with outer side sheets Ill and with inner side sheets IIwhich preferably extend upwardly between the center sill and thevertical flanges 'I of the hood, so that one set of rivets may beemployed for connecting both the hood and inner hopper sheets to thesill. The side sheets of the hoppers are usually formed with inturnedflanges I2 underlying and secured to the slope sheet 9.

The means for connecting adjoining portions of the inclined floor of thecar to the center sill hood and for also rigidifying the carconstruction at this point is preferably formed as a unitary casting andit is provided with downwardly diverging top walls I3 respectivelydisposed in planes paralleling the corresponding portions 6 of the hoodfor overlapping attachment thereto. While this attachment may beeffected by welding, it is preferred to employ rivets and, in order thatthe hood and casting may be connected at the apices of their divergingportions, the casting may advantageously be formed with an upwardlyextending boss I 4, the upper surface of which is preferably flush withthe top of the hood and affords a flat surface constituting an adequateabutment for the adjacent head of the attaching rivet. Adjacent the bossI4, the upper portions of the top walls I3 are preferably reinforced bya depending transversely extending flange I9.

The'connecting and rigidifying casting is also formed with substantiallyvertical side walls I5 for attachment to the sides of the center silland with a bordering ange I6 which is inclined in a plane parallel. withthe :door for connection thereto. The flange I6 has substantiallyparallel portions I'I which project laterally from the respective sidewalls I and convergent portions I8 which extend upwardly along the topwalls I'I and meetl at the apex of the latter. All portions of the angeare preferably disposed in the same plane and overlap the upper surfaceof adjoining portions of the oor sheet 8.

Each of the side walls I5 extend on opposite sides of the adjacentportion I'I of the flange I6 and thereby alford portions 20 and 2I whichare rigidly secured to the neighborhing side of the center sill aboveand below the car floor. Each of the portions 2I is preferably of suchsize as to receive a plurality of connecting rivets and the portion 20is offset slightly outwardly to receive between it and the center sillportions of the adjacent vertical flange 'I of the hood and the upperend of the inner side sheet II of the hopper. By rigidly connecting theside walls of the casting to the sides of the center sill, and it willbe appreciated that the rigidity of this connection is materiallyincreased by having the side walls extend on opposite sides of the carfloor, and by also rmly connecting the casting to both the center sillhood and the car floor, the construction of the car is greatlyreinforced and strengthened.

Depending downwardly from adjacent the apex of the top walls I3 andpreferably formed integrally with the casting is a bracket 22 affordinga support for a train line pipe 23. The bracket is preferably providedwith a plate portion 24 which may be conveniently formed with aperturesfor receiving a U-shape bolt 25 whereby the train line pipe may be rmlyconnected with the bracket. The apertures for receiving the U-bolt arepreferably located below the flange I6 of the casting and the bracketmay be suitably reinforced by an outwardly and downwardly inclinedflange 26. By forming the bracket rigid with the casting, it will beperceived that a sturdy and convenient support is provided for the trainline pipe.

What I claim is:

1. In a railway hopper car the combination with a center sill having ahood, of an inclined floor extending transversely of the car on oppositesides of the center sill, and means rigidly connecting adjacent portionsof the floor and center sill hood, said means comprising an integralcasting including downwardly diverging top walls secured to said hood,substantially vertical side walls secured to the sides of the centersill, and a downwardly inclined flange having parallel portionsprojecting laterally from the respective side walls and convergentportions extending upwardly along said top walls, each of said portionsof the flange being disposed in substantially the same plane and beingrigidly secured to the car floor.

2. In a railway hopper car the combination with a center sill having ahood, of an inclined floor extending transversely of the car on oppositesides of the center sill, and means rigidly connecting adjacent portionsof the iloor and center sill hood, said means comprising an integralcasting including downwardly diverging top walls secured to said hood,substantially vertical side walls secured to the sides of the centersill above and below the car floor, and a bordering flange inclineddownwardly in a plane parallel to the floor rigidly secured to thelatter.

3. In a railway hopper car the combination with a center sill having ahood, of an inclined iloor extending transversely of the car on oppositesides of the center sill, and means rigidly connecting adjacent portionsof the oor and center sill hood, said means comprising an integralcasting including downwardly diverging top walls secured to said hood,substantially vertical side walls, and a downwardly inclined angesecured to the floor having parallel portions projecting laterally fromsaid side walls and convergent portions extending upwardly along saidtop Walls, each of said side walls extending on opposite sides of theportion of the flange adjacent thereto and being rigidly secured to theadjoining side of the center sill above and below the car floor.

4. In a railway hopper car the combination with a center sill having ahood, of an inclined iioor extending transversely of the car on oppositesides of the center sill, means rigidly connecting adjacent portions ofthe oor and center sill hood, said means comprising an integral castingincluding a top wall secured to the hood, side walls secured to thesides of the center sill and a bordering flange secured to the floor,and means rigid with and depending from said top wall affording asupport for a train line pipe.

5. In a railway hopper car the combination with a center sill having ahood, of an inclined floor extending transversely of the car on oppositesides of the center sill, means rigidly connecting adjacent portions ofthe floor and center sill hood, said means comprising an integralcasting including a top wall secured to the hood, side walls secured tothe sides of the center sill, and a bordering flange secured to the carfloor, and a bracket depending from the top wall, said bracket having aplate portion provided with means for receiving a train line supportingdevice.

WILLIAM E. WINE.

